Land allotted during India partition

Dear Respected Attorneys, My grand father migrated from Pakistan to India during 1947 unfortunate partition. They had some 9 acre land in Pakistan and were supposed to get land in India by Rehab department, but never got informed about it. He passed away during that unfortunate incidence and now my father got to finally find out the allotment letter through RTI applications (thanks to RTI).
My Question is, what's the best legal way we could claim our land and what are the bottlenecks we should be aware of? Since that land was allotted in 1947 we still don't know where that land is and how to claim is, so if someone else might have been living or occupied that land since then, what are our options to get that land or some other land from the government?

Asked 3 years ago in Property Law from United States

Religion: Hindu

These are very very rare circumstances.
1) you may first try and trace the piece of land that is there.
2) if it is occupied then you will have to file eviction suits on the current occupants but chances of such suit succeeding are rare because in all probability occupants over the land have been living for more than 12 years and are in adverse possession.
3) it also could be a possibility that such land due to no claim for a long time might have qualified as bona vacantia ie property of the state and now the state has decided to use it in other ways. under such circumstances you can't do anything. Even if you file a writ chances are that you wont get any orders.
4) you must find out the piece and parcels of the land and also the laws of the state in question regarding such transfer. there might be a possibility that the state under an act has decided to act in a certain way on lands such as these.
If you share the details of your RTI response and the name of the state where the land is then it might be easier for us to give you more conclusive remarks.

They gave us the old allotment letter in urdu that was handwritten back then as a response to RTI. And the state in question is Punjab.
In the allotment letter the distrcit, tehsil and village name is mentioned with the area of land which was allotted to my grandfather, but since the co-ordinates have changed since then, the village named is no more under that tehsil or district. Current co-ordinates are:-
District:- SAS
Tehsil: Derra Bassi
Village: Mubarikpur
State: Punjab.
My question on your response is:-
1). How do I trace my land? Do I go to patwari or tehsildar? Could I write a RTI to them, if yes which department do I write the RTI?
2). Could I not ask government to get me another land if the existing land is already occupied?
3). Even if state bona vacantia, couldn't I ask government to get me another land considering my family's situation back then. My Grand Father died leaving behind 2 son's who weren't old enough to understand the legal issues neither were they aware of any such laws/rules back then? My Grand Mother wasn't educated either?

Asked 3 years ago

Enquire with the district magistrates office at SAS. In case they are not very cooperative you can file another RTI with the magistrates office.
No rights have limitations. having a right is not enough. it must follow with an inclination to exercise such right. If you have not exercised your rights for 12 years or more with regards to any immovable property then the laws of limitation comes to play and you might still have the right but without it being enforceable. That is no court will indulge in your litigation.
If you insist you can try. It would be necessary for one to look into the land laws in Punjab. But if you ask for my opinion on whether to pursue this in form of litigation, I would strongly recommend against it. However I will change my opinion if you can show that the government recognised your right on official documentation of any sorts within the period of last twelve years.

1. What is the exact question your father asked in his RTI application and what is the reply given?
2. In order to recover the land allotted to you the first thing that you need to know is the location of the land.
3. Since Urdu was the official language in pre-partition and even after partition for some time in Punjab the allotment letter is in that language.

1. You should address a RTI query to the patwari of the concerned area asking him to disclose the location of the land along with its boundaries which may have altered with the passage of time. If you do not get a reply or satisfactory reply from the patwari then you move the High Court.
2. The govt is not liable to give you another land if the land allotted to you is being occupied by someone else. In such a scenario it is your responsibility to recover your land by going to court which will hear the occupant in defence before passing its order.

1) your father will have to file writ petition in Punjab and Haryana high court to direct government to deliver possession of land allotted to your grand father
2) the issue that would arise is what your grand father was doing for 70 years delay in moving court has to be explained
3) you can file RTI. Application with the tehsildar of the tehsil to find exact location of your land
4) depending upon the reply received from tehsildar find out who is in possession of land
5) you may have to file eviction suit against encroachers

1. The said rehabilitation depatment has already been wound up,
2. However, get the details of the allotted land,
3. The said land might have been illegally occupied by someone else,
4. You shall have to file an eviction suit against him in the long run to get back your allotted land.

1. You have already got the details of the land which was allotted to your grandfather,
2. Visit the concerned Tehshildr and trace out the village where the land was allotted,
3. fter ascertaining the exact area, you can find out the current status of the said allotted land i.e. whether it is still vacant or occupied by someother person or acquisitioned/reallotted to someone else,
4. You shall have to act/recat accordingly after coming to know the current status of thye said land,
5. You can not ask for any other land in lieu of the said allotted land.

It is admissible that your grandfather is too late to occupy the allotted land. Now the claim over the land depends up on its current status of the land. Check whether the land is occupied or not by other person. After getting the idea about the current status of the land file a claim petition before the district collector, next send copy to home minister.
If you could not get a remedy from government then file writ petition before the honorable High court.

Indian Laws

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